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Month: October 2025

Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

CBC’s Flagship Program Platforms “Quackery” for Long COVID

Published October 31, 2025

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: Canadian Health Sentinel
Published on:
By Simon Spichak

On October 26th, CBC’s flagship program The National aired an interview featuring former CBC host Gill Deacon discussing her recovery from Long COVID using a brain retraining program and promoting her upcoming book.

Although host Ian Hanomansing clarified on air that Deacon doesn’t endorse the brain retraining therapy, the segment still provided national coverage for an unproven therapy. The National failed to mention that there’s no strong evidence CBT, and related brain retraining programs, are effective for Long COVID. The specific brain retraining course Deacon used to recover, according to her Substack, the Lightning Process, has been accused of exploiting people with Long COVID.

At best, this suggests The National did not conduct sufficient background research that would have flagged the problematic nature of the Lightning Process. At worst, the program may have been aware of the concerns surrounding the Lightning Process but chose not to mention it.

Continue readingCBC’s Flagship Program Platforms “Quackery” for Long COVID
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Topic: pandemic responseView all posts for the topic: pandemic response

This Physicist Says We Don’t Take COVID Seriously Enough

Published October 31, 2025

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Published by: The Tyee
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By Andrew Nikiforuk

If you think the COVID pandemic is done and ever-evolving variants pose no significant threat, consider these two realities.

The first is a recent U.S. study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. It tracked 150 million workers and their absences in the workplace in the United States since the end of the so-called public health emergency in 2023.

Its central conclusion: “Health-related absences from work continued to track COVID-19 circulation and were 12.9 per cent higher in the post-pandemic period compared with before the pandemic (140,000 monthly absences).” Absences were highest in occupations with the greatest exposure to the public.

Continue readingThis Physicist Says We Don’t Take COVID Seriously Enough
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Topic: Newfoundland and LabradorView all posts for the topic: Newfoundland and Labrador

COVID-19 cases, vaccine campaigns helped prompt mask mandate’s return, doctor says

Published October 30, 2025

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Published by: CBC News
Published on:
By Elizabeth Whitten

A temporary mask mandate is coming back to Newfoundland and Labrador’s hospitals and long-term care facilities, and one doctor says the driving force is two-fold — a rise in COVID-19 cases and the availability of vaccines.

On Wednesday, Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services announced it was temporarily bringing back mandatory masking in clinical settings effective Monday. The release cited an increase in infectious diseases circulating.

“The timing of the mask requirement was a little bit deliberate to coincide with the timing of the COVID-19 and influenza vaccine campaigns,” Dr. Natalie Bridger, an infectious disease specialist, told CBC Radio’s The St. John’s Morning Show.

Continue readingCOVID-19 cases, vaccine campaigns helped prompt mask mandate’s return, doctor says
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Topic: cardiovascular diseaseView all posts for the topic: cardiovascular disease

Covid and Flu Can Triple Your Risk of Heart Attack

Published October 29, 2025

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Published by: The New York Times
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By Nina Agrawal

The risk of a heart attack triples within the first few weeks after a Covid-19 infection, the study suggested, and quadruples in the month after a flu infection. The study, published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Heart Association, was a large review and analysis of existing research.

“It endorses a general idea that we’ve been thinking about and talking about for the past several years — that infections are generally not benign,” said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, a senior clinical epidemiologist at Washington University in St. Louis, who was not involved in the study.

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Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

Video | Long COVID is underdiagnosed, researchers say, and there’s work to be done to change that

Published October 29, 2025

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Published by: CBC News
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St. John’s hosted the 2025 Canadian Symposium on Long COVID earlier this month, a gathering of top researchers, clinicians, and people living with long COVID. As the CBC’s Adam Walsh reports, those on the symposium floor say more needs to be done to bring awareness to the condition as it continues to impact people of all ages.

Continue readingVideo | Long COVID is underdiagnosed, researchers say, and there’s work to be done to change that
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Topic: vaccinesView all posts for the topic: vaccines

Pharmacists urge vaccination as fewer than half of Canadians plan to get their flu or COVID-19 shots this fall

Published October 28, 2025

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Published by: Canadian Pharmacists Association
Published on:

October 28, 2025 (Ottawa): As Canada enters another respiratory virus season, pharmacists are urging Canadians to protect themselves and their communities as new polling shows vaccination intentions remain low.

According to a new national survey conducted by Abacus Data for the Canadian Pharmacists Association (CPhA), 43% of Canadians plan to get their seasonal flu shot, and 29% intend to receive a COVID-19 vaccine this fall. Most concerning, nearly 4 in 10 Canadians (39%) say they don’t plan to get either vaccine.

Continue readingPharmacists urge vaccination as fewer than half of Canadians plan to get their flu or COVID-19 shots this fall
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Topic: vaccinesView all posts for the topic: vaccines

Analysis: Last year’s COVID vaccines protected well against severe illness

Published October 28, 2025

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Published by: CIDRAP
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By Stephanie Soucheray

The updated 2024-25 COVID-19 vaccines provided 57% protection against hospitalization and death, although their effectiveness waned over time, according to a study yesterday in JAMA Internal Medicine.

The study assessed effectiveness against infection, emergency department (ED) visits, and hospitalization. Protection against infection and ED visits was 45%.

The study was based on outcomes seen among Nebraskan residents during the 2024-25 respiratory virus season and used hospital discharge data from member hospitals of the Nebraska Hospital Association and data from death certificates from the Nebraska Office of Vital Records.

Continue readingAnalysis: Last year’s COVID vaccines protected well against severe illness
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Topic: measlesView all posts for the topic: measles

Canada’s status as a country without endemic measles can now be revoked

Published October 27, 2025

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Published by: CTV News / The Canadian Press
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By Nicole Ireland

TORONTO — Canada is poised to lose its international status as a measles-free country now that an outbreak that began in New Brunswick and spread to other provinces has hit the one-year mark.

The country eliminated measles in 1998 and maintained that status for more than 25 years, meaning there was no ongoing community transmission and new cases were travel-related.

But since Oct. 27, 2024, the virus has spread to more than 5,000 people in Canada, including two infants in Ontario and Alberta who were infected with measles in the womb and died after they were born.

Continue readingCanada’s status as a country without endemic measles can now be revoked
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Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

Video | Her mysterious symptoms turned out to be long COVID

Published October 26, 2025

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: CBC News: The National
Published on:

Gill Deacon was a familiar voice to CBC Radio listeners in Toronto, but that all came crashing down when she started suffering mysterious and debilitating symptoms. The former Here & Now host opens up about her long COVID diagnosis and how she found her way back to feeling great.

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Topic: MontrealView all posts for the topic: Montreal

Jewish General Hospital reinstates mask mandate as flu season kicks in early

Published October 23, 2025

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Published by: Montreal Gazette
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By Aaron Derfel

The Jewish General Hospital has reinstated a mask mandate for medical staff as the flu season has begun much earlier than usual this year, prompting fears that some elderly and vulnerable individuals might not get their vaccines on time.

“It’s not a bad thing to reinstate wearing masks in a hospital because you have sick people by default and you have high-risk patients,” Dr. Karl Weiss, chief of the division of infectious diseases at the Jewish General, told The Gazette.

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Topic: AlbertaView all posts for the topic: Alberta

Alberta doctors say province’s attempt to save on COVID shots could cost more

Published October 22, 2025

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Published by: The Canadian Press
Published on:
By Lisa Johnson

EDMONTON – Alberta doctors say the province’s effort to save money on COVID-19 vaccines could end up costing taxpayers far more in public health-care costs.

Dr. Brian Wirzba, head of the Alberta Medical Association, which represents doctors in the province, says there’s still time for the government to improve public communication about vaccines and make them more accessible.

“In my clinic talking to patients, they’re still confused about how they could even get it,” said Wirzba, who practises internal medicine in Edmonton.

Continue readingAlberta doctors say province’s attempt to save on COVID shots could cost more
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Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

Video | The Signal | Live [from] the 3rd Canadian Symposium on Long COVID

Published October 21, 2025

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Published by: CBC News - NL - Newfoundland and Labrador
Published on:

Today we bring you a live on location show at the 3rd Canadian Symposium on Long COVID. We talk to doctors, researchers, students and patients…

Continue readingVideo | The Signal | Live [from] the 3rd Canadian Symposium on Long COVID
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Topic: AlbertaView all posts for the topic: Alberta

Some Albertans frustrated, Health Link overwhelmed as COVID-19 shots roll out to general public

Published October 20, 2025

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Published by: CBC News
Published on:
By Jennifer Lee

Some Albertans struggled to book COVID-19 shots as the province’s fall immunization campaign opened to the general public on Monday.

By late afternoon, Health Link had been flooded with more than 10,000 calls related to the COVID vaccine alone and a spokesperson for Primary Care Alberta confirmed the provincial health information phone line was facing extremely high call volumes.

Continue readingSome Albertans frustrated, Health Link overwhelmed as COVID-19 shots roll out to general public
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Topic: Northwest TerritoriesView all posts for the topic: Northwest Territories

Health authority firms up Yellowknife flu and Covid-19 clinic dates

Published October 20, 2025

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Published by: Cabin Radio
Published on:
By Ollie Williams

Walk-in clinics for the flu and Covid-19 vaccine open in Yellowknife later in October, the NWT’s health authority confirmed in a schedule issued late last week.

Continue readingHealth authority firms up Yellowknife flu and Covid-19 clinic dates
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Topic: researchView all posts for the topic: research

A surprise bonus from COVID-19 vaccines: bolstering cancer treatment

Published October 20, 2025

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Published by: Science
Published on:
By Phie Jacobs

The innovative messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines that thwarted the ravages of COVID-19 may also help fight tumors in cancer patients, according to a new analysis of medical records and studies in mice.

People with cancer who coincidentally received the mRNA shots before starting drugs designed to unleash the immune system against tumors lived significantly longer than those who didn’t get vaccinated, a research team announced yesterday at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress in Berlin. Laboratory experiments by the group suggest the vaccines rev up the immune system, making even stubborn tumors more susceptible to treatment.

Continue readingA surprise bonus from COVID-19 vaccines: bolstering cancer treatment
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Topic: PhilippinesView all posts for the topic: Philippines

Quezon reinstates mandatory face masks amid flu-like illnesses spike

Published October 19, 2025

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Published by: Philippine Daily Inquirer
Published on:
By Delfin T. Mallari Jr.

LUCENA CITY — Citing a spike in influenza-like illnesses, Quezon Governor Angelina Tan has reinstated the mandatory wearing of face masks.

“Due to the increasing number of cases of illnesses such as colds, coughs, influenza-like illness, and severe respiratory infections like community-acquired pneumonia—and in accordance with Executive Order No. DHT-60—the wearing of face masks is hereby strictly mandated in all indoor settings, as well as in outdoor areas where physical distancing cannot be observed,” Tan, a medical doctor, said in a Facebook post on Sunday afternoon, Oct. 19.

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Topic: TorontoView all posts for the topic: Toronto

Toronto to develop wastewater surveillance program for FIFA World Cup

Published October 17, 2025

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Published by: The Canadian Press
Published on:
By Hannah Alberga

TORONTO – Toronto Public Health is developing a wastewater surveillance program to detect any potential spread of diseases during the FIFA World Cup.

Toronto’s new Medical Officer of Health Dr. Michelle Murti said the pilot will collect sewage samples in areas where fans congregate and test them for infections such as COVID-19, influenza and RSV.

Murti said the public health unit is looking into whether other illnesses, such as measles, could also be monitored in wastewater given the large international audience expected next summer.

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Topic: United KingdomView all posts for the topic: United Kingdom

London schools to get filters to cut air pollution

Published October 17, 2025

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Published by: BBC
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By Susana Mendonca

Hundreds of London schools are set to receive new air quality filters in a £2.7m scheme designed to reduce pollution in classrooms and protect children’s health.

Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan said the rollout, covering more than 200 schools across the capital, could cut harmful particulate matter (PM2.5) inside classrooms by up to 68%.

Speaking at St Mary’s RC Primary School in Battersea, south-west London, one of the first schools to receive the filters, Sir Sadiq said they could have a “life-changing” impact on young people.

Continue readingLondon schools to get filters to cut air pollution
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